- by Mitch AllenLet me begin by saying... I'm no expert, and I'm not brand loyal, I just love old American muscle cars. Growing up in the 1960's and 70's was muscle car heaven. I grew up with a 1963 Plymouth Savoy, Mom and Dad bought it brand new, it had a 318 cubic inch V8, with a automatic push button transmission! I still remember Mom and Dad sliding that lever, up or down, with a round ball on it that had "Park", imprinted on the top of it, how cool is that? To give you some perspective, my children, 12 and 16 years old, were amazed the first time they sat in a car with manual roll up window cranks.... "Wow dad that is so cool, how many cars have those?" How many of you remember the rotating wing windows on the A pillar of your old car?

We also had a 1967 Plymouth Fury II, Mom destroyed the '63 Savoy when she pulled out in front of a car from a blind corner, not really her fault. My cousin bought the remains, and that car lived many more years, probably had 200,000 miles on it. The 67' had the same engine, 318 two barrel carb, nearly bullet proof, and got about 25 miles to the gallon, not kidding! That car had a curious habit of dying any time you made a left hand turn, man I can remember my Dad letting the swear words fly as he tried to restart that car in the middle of an intersection. Mom was not all that proud of the way she roughed up the 63', so one summer morning as she sat trying to turn left onto the street we lived on, some dude in a pickup truck, not paying attention, looked up to see the stationary Fury, he cranked it hard right, clipped the right rear corner panel and sailed off into a ditch. Mom was sent flying to the left, into on coming traffic, where a totally unsuspecting young guy in a '69 El Camino caught her full speed in the left front corner. That collapsed the front of the Camino, sending him helplessly screeching across four lanes of traffic, without getting hit! Where as the 63' was only seriously injured, the 67' was a total, luckily Mom was only badly shaken.... ahh the memories.

So, being a old car loving guy, I've decided to list my opinion of the 5 best old-school muscle cars of all-time as well as give you a taste of what they are selling for these days. Therefore without further ado...

The 5 best American Muscle Cars of All-Time.

1. The 1970 Plymouth 'Cuda'

Of course the legendary 426 c.i. Hemi was the ultimate, but a 383, 340 "AAR", even the lowly base model 318, what classic looks, low mean, a work of art on wheels. This was my dream car as a teenager, nothing else had that brute force mean look. The Cuda looked like the "Wolverine" of cars, small, barrel chested, hairy, cigar chomping, bad ass. Part of Chryslers "Rapid Transit System" line up of hot rods in the early 70's, great colors, powerful engines, and just fantastic American car style. The ultimate for me? 426 Hemi, with the 727 automatic trans, in "Plum Crazy" purple, I couldn't afford one then, and can't now.

2. The 1966 Pontiac GTO

Talk about the vision of cool, narrow black tie, white shirt, black sport coat, Johnny Walker Black label, polished wing tip shoe cool, this car was it. Stacked headlights, sleek body, chrome bumpers, again it doesn't matter if it's the throaty 389 "Tri-Power" with a 4 speed, or the 326 with the 2 speed automatic "Power Glide", simply one of the most beautiful cars ever built in the old USA. I don't think the Fisher body works people ever topped this jewel.

3.The 1969 Mustang Mach I

Oooffff, man..... what a great looking automobile, again street fighter tough looking, great style, sleek lines, a back windshield you can hardly see out of, all the qualities of American muscle. Ford's Hemi was a disaster, but the 428 Cobra Jet, 390, 351 Windsor, and Cleveland, and the 302 all fantastic V8 engines. One of the best performing, and handling cars of the 60's was the "Boss 302", I'll take mine in yellow!

4. The 1969 Olds 442

"Four Barrel, Four Speed, Two door" or something like that. For a big car it is beautiful. Crisp sheet metal, classic American muscle style, just a brute. Big bold, and fast, this car looks like it means business just standing still, stuffed with a huge Detroit V8 it has it all going on. One of the few cars that looks intimidating in white with gold stripes.

5. The 1971 Plymouth Road Runner.

O.K, personal bias, my first car was a 1971 Satellite with a 318 and automatic, I pined after a Cuda or Challenger, but could never find one I could afford. Now looking back on Chryslers "Fuselage" body style, what a home run!!! Maybe some of the first thought to aero-dynamic shaping for a muscle car, smooth body lines, sleek, low style, that amazing one piece looping front bumper, must have been a tooling nightmare. Just look at this car from every angle, it's truly ahead of it's time compared to anything GM or Ford put out in the same year, again you could get the mighty 425 h.p. Chrysler "Hemi", in a assortment of cool colors, "Arrest me Red", "Hemi Orange", "Plum Crazy", "Curious Yellow", "Sublime", "Go Mango", you can't beat that!